


The 6 Times Gaster Watched a Child Die (and the one time they watched him)

by LavenderTownsGhost



Category: Undertale
Genre: Canon OCs?, Gen, OCs out of minor characters, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-15
Updated: 2016-08-09
Packaged: 2018-05-06 23:10:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5434352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LavenderTownsGhost/pseuds/LavenderTownsGhost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Each of the six children's journeys through the Underground, and how Gaster had to take their Souls.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Aqua

**Author's Note:**

> This has been something nagging at me for ages, the characterization of each of the previous humans. I decided that Gaster had something to do with them, and thus this was born. Since I'm not the best at descriptions, here's a link to how I imagine each of them: http://lavendertownsghost.tumblr.com/post/135015192005/this-game-is-amazing-for-making-characters-and-i (Also that's my Tumblr in case you want to follow me)

Alex’s favorite color was aqua. Her ribbons were aqua, her shirt was aqua, even her eyes were aqua (well, they were light blue, but don’t tell her that). Alex was an adventurous 10-year-old, and loved running around the forests by her house at the base of the mysterious Mt Ebott. However, unlike her older sister, she was never allowed to explore outside of the house’s view.

 _Why can’t I be cool like big sis?_ She thought.

One night, she came up with a plan. She waited for her parents and sister to fall asleep, then grabbed her trusty toy knife and set out for the mountain. If she spent the night on the mountain, her parents would have to see how capable she was!

About an hour into her journey, Alex began to doubt herself. It was pitch black, and she couldn’t see the ground right in front of her. Suddenly, there wasn’t any ground at all, and she fell down a large hole. She landed on a pile of golden flowers. Alex was petrified, and didn’t budge an inch. She had no idea why she wasn’t hurt, she had fallen quite a distance. Something moved out of her sight, and she instantly remembered all the stories she heard about monsters under the mountain. But those were just stories… right?

A figure stepped out of the shadows, and Alex tried to make herself look smaller. The creature looked like her mom, but was fuzzy and had horns.

_It’s a monster it’s going to eat me why did I have to go alone I should have waited I should-_

“Are you all right little one?”

Alex squeaked and huddled down. The monster stopped at the edge of the flower patch and bent down.

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to frighten you.”

She sounded so comforting, Alex couldn’t help but trust her. The girl got to her feet and slowly walked over to the monster.

“My name’s Alex. Are you a monster?”

The monster nodded.

“Yes, but I mean you no harm. My name is Toriel, I can take you somewhere safe.”

Alex thought about this for a moment. She wasn’t supposed to go with strange people, but she didn’t remember anything about strange monsters.

“Ok!”

Toriel led her to a quaint little house. The monster went to get some food ready, and Alex sat excitedly at the dining room table.

“It has been some time since a human has fallen down here,” Toriel said as she served Alex some pie. “You are the first since I moved here.”

“It’s purdy!” Alex said with a mouthful of pie.

Toriel chuckled.

“Thank you child, I’m glad you like it. You may have to stay here for a while.”

Alex smiled. She didn’t mind staying in this nice place for a bit. It was peaceful, without any arguing. She only wished her sister could be here to.

When they were done eating, Alex wanted to explore the Ruins.

“Be careful,” Toriel warned, “There may be some monsters that wish ill-will towards humans. However, I do not believe any of them will hurt you as long as you are kind to them.”

Alex nodded and went out excitedly. There were some weird frog monsters, but they simply ‘ribbit’ed at her. Froggits, that’s what Toriel said they were called. They would sometimes release flies, but she could dodge them easily enough.

As she was walking, she saw a strange looking Froggit. It was... pointy, and looked like it was wearing a crown.

“Are you a frog prince?” Alex asked.

“Robbit, robbit.”

The frog suddenly jumped towards her, and Alex stumbled back, losing a shoe in the process.

“…human…”

Alex was frozen with fear. Was the frog speaking?

“…humans…trap…”

It leapt at her again, and Alex reflexively slashed with her toy knife. It hit the frog, but it didn’t look that injured.

“humans…kill…”

“It was an accident!” Alex cried.

A rain of flies descended on her, and Alex couldn’t doge them all in time. Each time one of them hit her, it felt like a small part of her was breaking. Alex stood still, hoping the frog would leave her alone if she didn’t look like a threat. The frog leapt at her again, and Alex couldn’t get out of the way. She felt so weak, and stumbled away, her other shoe falling off. Her mind was hazy, and she tried to remember how to get back to the house. She ended up on a ledge overlooking an old city.

“Help me!” she cried.

And someone came.

~

Gaster was strolling around Home, and he had no idea why. He was supposed to be working on ways to transport a human soul, and he did have the prototype with him anyway. It still needed more work though, the only way for a soul to be captured was for the owner to give it up willingly. Gaster had gotten so frustrated with his efforts that he decided to take a break. Something had been nagging him to visit the monster’s first settlement underground, and he knew better than to ignore his instincts. But other than the few monsters who insisted on staying here, there was nothing of interest. Gaster was about to start heading back to his lab when he heard someone cry out. It didn’t sound like any monster he was familiar with. He tried to pinpoint the cry, but he couldn’t hear anything else. Looking up at the Ruins wall, he saw a spot of aqua on a balcony. That was new. Gaster didn’t know of any way to enter the Ruins, so he took a breath and concentrated. Teleporting took a lot out of him, and he winced as he felt the cracks in his skull widen slightly. When he opened his eyes, he was confused at the sight in front of him. A human child was huddled up against the balcony edge, clutching a toy knife in trembling hands.

Gaster was slightly ashamed that his first thought was, _at least I can test out the prototype now._

He pushed that thought aside and knelt in front of the child.

“My name is Doctor Gaster. Are you all right?”

He expected her to shrink away, but she simply looked up at him.

“C-Can you please help me?” she whimpered. “I… don’t feel so good.”

Gaster could see why. Although the human had no real physical injuries, her soul was barley holding together. Her body was not going to hold for very long.

“I’m not sure what I can do.” Gaster said gently.

The girl sniffed and looked down.

“What’s your name?” Gaster asked. He at least wanted to know the name of the human before he had to take her soul.

“Alex,” She said quietly. “I want… to see my sister...”

She was fading fast. Gaster would have to act quickly to get her soul.

“Will you let me try something?” he asked.

Alex nodded. Gaster took the device out of his coat. It was a clear glass cylinder, about half a foot in diameter and a foot long. He unhinged one of the tops.

“Do you know what a Soul is?”

At the human’s confused expression, he explained, “our Soul makes us who we are. Monster or Human, we all have a soul.”

He took a breath before continuing.

“I can’t save your body, but I can save your soul. You don’t owe us anything, but you would help us greatly.”

Alex was still confused, but she decided that helping the nice skeleton man would be a good last thing to do.

“What do I do?”

Gaster hovered his hand above the girl’s chest. An aqua heart appeared in the hole in his hand.

“That’s your soul.”

Alex put her hand to either side of the Soul, and carefully picked it up.

“It’s glowing.” She said in awe.

 _Not as bright as it should be,_ Gaster thought to himself.

“I put in in there?” Alex asked, looked towards the canister.

“Yes,” Gaster answered. He was starting to have second thoughts. The human was so young, perhaps he could save her? Surly a mature Soul would work better than such a young one.

Alex moved her hands over to the canister, but they were shaking. Tears were forming in her eyes.

“I’m scared,” she whispered, looking up at Gaster. “Will it hurt? Dying?”

Oh god, how could he do this?

“No,” he answered quietly, “You’ll just… wait a bit. Then you can see your sister again, and everything will be fine.”

It was a flat out lie, but it had the desired effect. Alex smiled.

“That’s ok, I’m really patient!”

She moved her Soul into the canister and Gaster closed the lid. As soon as he did, Alex fell back like a puppet with its strings cut. Gaster reached out to her, but she was already gone.

“Alex? Are you out here?”

Toriel waked onto the balcony, but stopped in her tracks when she saw Gaster and the dead human.

“What did you do.” she said in a firm voice.

“She was already fading, there was nothing I could have done.” He replied.

“So you took her Soul?!” Toriel barked back.

“Queen Toriel-“

“Don’t.” Toriel warned. “I am not the queen. I haven’t been for a decade.”

She looked at the Royal scientist harshly. Gaster knew that is she wanted to fight him, she would win.

“Leave.” She demanded. “Do not dare tell Asgore I am here.”

Gaster nodded meekly.

“Do you… wish to bury the girl?”

Toriel looked at the human sadly.

“Show her to Asgore. Show him what his bloodlust has done.”

She stalked back into the Ruins.

Gaster gathered the child in his arms, then focused once again. He teleported back to New Home, just outside the castle. The guards were shocked to see him, then saw the human in his arms and the Soul floating inside the canister.

“Tell King Asgore I have the first human soul.” He said emotionlessly.

They fetched the king, then left. Asgore and Gaster walked to the castle’s basement in silence. There were seven coffins in a row, and Gaster stopped in front of the first one.

“Her name was Alex,” He said, breaking the silence.

Asgore nodded sadly, and knelt in front of the coffin, using very careful fire magic, he carved her name into the stone. Gaster laid her down and closed the lid.

“I’ll keep the soul in the lab,” He said, trying not to let his emotions show.

“Run some tests on it, keep an eye on it,” Asgore said gruffly. Gaster noticed tears in his eyes.

The king looked down at the coffin and said quietly, “She had to be younger then Chara and Asriel…”

Gaster waited a moment, then said, “will that be all sir?”

Asgore nodded, and Gaster walked up the stairs.

~

Toriel took her time returning to her house. Some monster had attacked the human, resulting in her death. Toriel was going to find out who did it.

She found one of Alex’s shoes in the hallway, and the other one a distance away, next to a Final Froggit.

“What have you done…” she said quietly.

The frog looked up at her.

“…humans…attack…”

“She was a child!” Toriel roared, “A scared, terrified child!”

The Froggit hung its head.

“I do not wish to see you again,” she said threateningly. “Leave.”

The Froggit slowly hopped away.

Toriel returned home, and entered the first bedroom. She had gotten it ready for Alex, fresh bedsheets, new toys. Toriel placed the shoes in the shoebox, then sat on the floor and cried.

She had failed yet again to keep a child safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Each chapter will probably be longer than the one before, as each child made it further into the Underground before dying.


	2. Orange

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm soooo sorry this took forever to update. I sort of fell out of the Undertale fandom for a bit, but I've started replaying the game a lot, and I'm glad some people still like this story.

Jacob looked up at the mountain and gulped. It was a simple dare; just get up the mountain halfway, take a picture for proof, then get back down. So why was he so scared? Nothing scared him, he was the bravest 12-year-old there was! Gathering his wits, he started walking. He even had his lucky bandana and his boxing gloves, so nothing could go wrong. At least not until he fell down the gigantic hole.

The landing took the breath out of him, and it took the boy a second to get his bearings. He was sitting on a pile of golden flowers, and looking up he could see the hole he fell through.

How the hell did I not break anything? He thought to himself.

He sat up and dusted the petals off. He started to look for a way out, then decided to take a quick picture. He might not have made it up the mountain, but falling down it had to count for something. The flash from his camera illuminated an archway, so he decided to go that way.

Walking in the strange ruins, Jacob started to remember the stories of Mt. Ebott. That monsters lived under it, and that people would go missing. Of course he wasn’t scared of them, but he remembered that little girl who went missing quite a few weeks ago. He tried to call someone on his phone, but he had no signal.

“Squorch…” 

Jacob turned at looked at what had made the noise. Something that looked like Jell-O was sitting in the corner, and was making burbling noises.

“…the heck?”

He walked over to it and pushed it with his glove. It quivered slightly, then Jacob jumped back as it shot several small pellets at him. A few of them hit him, and he felt a bit weaker. He kicked at the slime in retaliation, and was shocked when it faded into dust. He tried to shake the dust of his shoe, but it wouldn’t come off. With a sigh, he went back to walking. There had to be a way out of this place.

He turned a corner and ran into someone.

“Oh! I am so sorry; I was not watching where I was going.”

It was a woman’s voice, but when Jacob looked up he saw a strange goat monster. He jumped back and held up his gloves in attack.

“Do not be alarmed child,” the monster said calmly. “I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins.”

She noticed the dust on his shoe, but said nothing about it.

“You are injured, would you let me heal you?”

“I’m fine, just a few scratches,” Jacob said gruffly.

Toriel looked slightly amused at his refusal. 

“Will you at least come home and have some pie?”

Jacob was still uneasy.

“How do I know I can trust you? You could poison it and kidnap me or something.”

Toriel smiled and said, “I will make it in front of you if that would ease your mind?”

Jacob was going to refuse, but he realized he was pretty hungry. 

“Fine.”

Toriel seemed happy at this.

“Excellent! I will lead you there.”

Jacob followed behind Toriel as she led him through what she called the “Ruins”. A weird frog jumped at him, and he squared up to fight.

“There is no need to fight,” Toriel said quickly. “You can always Spare any monster if you do the right thing.”

She crouched down at said to the monster, “You look lovely today!”

The frog blushed, and Toriel turned to Jacob. 

“You can Spare it now.”

Jacob looked at the frog.

“Umm, I Spare you?”

The frog hopped away.

“Excellent!” Toriel said. “Remember, Sparing someone is always better than Fighting them.”

Jacob rolled his eyes once Toriel turned around. In his experience, being nice only got you beat up worse than if you fought back. He’ll humor her for now tough.

Toriel led him to a quaint little house. Inside was surprisingly furbished, with a fully working kitchen and everything. Jacob kicked his shoes off at the door.

“If you still want to watch me bake the pie, you are welcome to help,” Toriel said with kindness. “Or I can show you your room?”

“Wait, my room?” Jacob asked in confusion.

Toriel suddenly got uncomfortable.

“Well, you see, there is no easy way to put this.” She took a deep breath. “There is no way to leave the Underground. We have tried for ages, but we are trapped down here, as is anyone who falls down.”

“What?!” Jacob cried. “I can’t stay down here! There has to be a way out!”

He pointed towards that stairs that lead down.

“What’s down there?”

Toriel sighed, “The rest of the Underground. But monsters will try to capture you there. Asgore is collecting human souls, and he already has one.”

Jacob punched his gloves together.

“I can take him! I’m the toughest kid at the orphanage!”

Before Toriel could reply, Jacob ran down the stairs. He bolted down the hallway, and out through the door. It was snowing, and he slowed down somewhat. The door swung shut behind him, but he didn’t care. He didn’t know what he was going to do in the long run, but he figured finding this ‘Asgore’ would be the best thing to do. 

He started walking down the snowy path, crossing a small bridge. He ended up in a small clearing with a strange box. He opened it, but there was nothing inside. He heard something move behind him, but when he turned around nothing was there. He kept walking, but kept hearing footsteps behind him.  
He spotted what looked like a living iceberg a bit away. 

“Your head looks so... NAKED!” it called at him.

“Hey, I’m wearing a bandana!” he yelled back.

Jacob walked up to it, and was about to say something else when it launched several ice spikes at him. he punched one out of the air, and dodged the others. He retaliated by punching the monster. Its hat almost fell off, and it glared at him. Jacob wound up for another punch, but before he could attack he felt a spear on the back of his neck. 

“That’s enough,” a rough voice said.

Jacob turned around ad saw… a dog. Standing on two legs. In a robe. Holding a spear. Said spear looked incredibly sharp, and was pointing right at him.

“I wanted to see if it was true,” the dog continued, “that all humans are killers. You attacking Ice Cap was proof of that.”

Jacob tried to defend himself, but the dog growled at him. 

“Don’t try anything. Just give up your Soul and this will be easy.”

The dog swung its spear at Jacob, and he jumped away. It swung a few more times, and Jacob got hit. He started to feel weaker, and realized he would have to go on the offensive. The spear changed blue and slightly intangible, and he figured that was his opining. He charged the dog, but was batted aside by the blue spear. He landed in the snow, and didn’t have the strength to get up. He vision was fuzzy and his mind was starting to go.

The dog raised its spear for the final blow, but a figure stopped it. Jacob couldn’t make it out well, but at least it looked relatively human.

~

Gaster had watched the human’s journey from his lab. He had cameras set up throughout the Underground, monitoring everything. He had seen the boy leave the Ruins, and left to take the boat to Snowdin. By the time he reached the icy plains, Elder Dog had already beaten up the kid pretty badly. He was going for the final blow when Gaster stopped him.

“It’s easier if they surrender willingly.”

Elder Dog looked down and the barely conscious child and snorted.

“Suit yourself Doc.”

Gaster knelt down in front of the kid as the dog walked a bit away. 

“What’s your name?”

The boy groaned and said, “J-Jacob…”

Gaster smiled sadly and replied, “My name is Gaster. It’s nice to meet you.”

The boy opened his eyes, then recoiled in shock when he saw Gaster.

“Y-you’re a skeleton!”

Gaster nodded.

“That I am.”

The boy tried to stand, but fell down instantly. Elder Dog had done a number on him. Jacob tried to look defiant, but Gaster could see his Soul trembling. 

~

Jacob knew he was going to die. If this freaky living skeleton didn’t kill him, the dog with the spear would. He couldn’t move, and he couldn’t thing of a way out. 

“Why do you have holes in your hands?”

Ah yes, insult the skeleton monster. That would definitely help him live longer.

Gaster looked down at his hands thoughtfully.

“I made some sacrifices during the war between my kind and yours. Some of them left scars.”

Jacob’s mind was hazy, but a memory from his history class surfaced.

“The war between monsters and humans? That was like a century ago.”

Gaster nodded.

“Longer than that.”

Jacob looked at him again. Gaster had cracks running through his eye sockets, and one of the looked like it was drooping slightly. He could have been over a hundred years old.

“Jacob, may I ask a favor of you?”

Jacob looked down and saw that Gaster had produced a clear canister. He was suddenly wary.

“What?”

“You Soul is heavily damaged, I don’t think I can save it. However, you can still help us if you want.”

“Who’s us?”

“Myself and the king, Asgore.”

Asgore. Wasn’t that the guy Toriel warned him about? The one collecting souls?

“Why?”

Gaster was silent for a moment.

“You have no reason to help us. I can’t, and I won’t, force you to do this.”

Jacob pushed himself up until he was sitting upright.

“You… you need my soul, right?”

Gaster nodded. Jacob was silent for a moment.

“Is there really no way out of here.”

“Sadly, no.”

“Ok.”

~

Gaster was surprised as Jacob started to stand up. He was unsteady, but stood. Gaster took a close look at the child’s Soul. Despite being cracked on the verge of breaking, it was still holding together. Jacob was filled with Determination. 

“Here.”

He removed his glove and handed it to Gaster.

“For your hands. It’s probably hard to pick things up like that.”

Gaster didn’t mention that he had magic to help with that. He accepted the gift with a nod. Jacob squared his shoulders, and Gaster leaved his hand over the human’s chest. An orange heart began pulsating in the hole in his hand. He put the glove away and held the canister.

“You have to put it in here,” he said gently, “you don’t have to be scared.”

“I’m not scared!” Jacob said defiantly. 

The boy’s hands were steady as he raised them to his Soul. He maneuvered it over the canister and took a deep breath.

“I’m not scared,” he repeated quietly.

He pushed his Soul inside the canister, and fell the moment the lid closed. Gaster quickly caught him before he hit the ground. He held the child carefully in his arms.

“Need anything else Doc?” Elder Dog asked.

Gaster thought for a moment.

“Actually, yes.”

He handed the guard the glove Jacob had given him.

“Please put that in the safety box in Snowdin. I don’t want anything to happen to it.”

The guard nodded, then took one last look at the body in Gaster’s arms.

“It’s a shame,” he sighed, “he was just a pup.”

 _You had no problem attacking him_ , Gaster wanted to say.

“Yes, he was.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, i'm so sorry about how long it took me to update this. Blue's chapter will hopefully take less time to write xD

**Author's Note:**

> Each chapter will probably be longer than the one before, as each child made it further into the Underground before dying.


End file.
